Prometheus
by tinuvielb
Summary: The universe is dying an early death, and it's the Doctor's fault. What sacrifice will he make to put things right? Rose, Jack, Alt!Eighth Doctor. Now COMPLETE. Stay tuned for the next story, The Emerald City.
1. The Thal

Chapter 1: The Thal

"This is outrageous!" snarled the Doctor. "What do you mean, you have no record of my mission? I was acting on direct orders!"

"I don't mean to antagonise you, Doctor," said the calm, bureaucratic voice on the other end of the line. "However, given our non-interference ethos, it seems highly unlikely that you would have been 'sent' on such a mission. Might you have misremembered? We understand there were problems with your last regeneration—"

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with my memory. _Your_ records are faulty. Look, it doesn't matter. I just wanted to let the Council know that I've made up my mind. I'm going to see if I can—"

"No, Doctor," said the voice. "Based on what you've told us, I'd say you've…er…done enough already. It gives me no pleasure to say this, but this unfortunate event proves that we've been right to disapprove of your interfering. There's going to have to be an inquiry. Until then I must ask you not to—"

"I can't hear you," hissed the Doctor. "You're breaking up." He savagely punched the viewscreen off. Muttering darkly to himself, he moved to the other side of the console, and began setting temporal and spatial coordinates.

He glanced up, and saw that Rose was grinning at him. She leaned across the console and whispered conspiratorially, "So, Skaro it is, then?"

_(Skaro is home to the Kaleds, a peaceful race of scientists and engineers--thanks to the Alt!Eighth Doctor's interference in their history. However, his destruction of the Daleks's Genesis had consequences more terrible than anyone ever could have imagined: the Big Rip, a catastrophic and dramatically premature ending to the universe. For more details, read _Doomsday Dimensions_ and _The Restaurant at the End of the Multiverse

Silvery grass, cloud-leafed trees, ethereal flowers, whirring birds...and then a slight shimmer in the air. Moments later, a sliver of doorway hung in midair and widened, revealing Rose and the Doctor. They stepped outside.

"I despise this invisibility circuit," said the Doctor as he closed the TARDIS doors. "Such a bother trying to find something that you can't see."

"Captain Jack managed it," said Rose.

"Who's Captain Jack?"

Rose suddenly wondered if there were a parallel Captain Jack in her universe. What would he be like? Would he be male or female? Would it matter? She giggled. "Um...Captain Jack...it's hard to explain. Anyway--what's the plan? Change the past? Stop yourself from--"

"Now _there's_ a thought! Change the universe's most pivotal event, cross my own timeline, and create a massive paradox all in one go. Alternately, I could just open up a big rift in the Void and invite the Reapers round for tea."

Rose rolled her eyes. "You could have just said no. So what are we--"

The Doctor put his finger to his lips, shushing her. He turned around, looking this way and that, apparently trying to get his bearings. He beckoned Rose to come closer. "Unfortunately, I think we landed rather far from the Kaled city," he whispered in her ear. "Be on your lookout for Thals. Typically they're harmless, not too bright, but occasionally--"

"What do they look like?" Rose asked; but the Doctor didn't need to reply.

From a thicket of trees stepped a spectacularly tall man, bare-chested, with tight-fitting trousers fashioned from animal skins. His bronze skin was stretched across taut, well-defined muscles. He had a mane of wavy blonde hair, chiseled features, and startlingly green, almond-shaped eyes. He was holding a massive spear. Rose stared at him, open-mouthed. He was perhaps the most perfect man she had ever seen in her life.

"Hello!" said the Doctor, brightly. "How do you do, I'm the Doctor. As you can see, we're not from around here, we're travellers, strangers to these parts. I do hope it's not too much of an imposition, but do you think you could possibly point us in the direction of the Kaled city? We'd appreciate it ever so--"

Suddenly, the Thal thundered, "Stop your babbling!"

"Er...quite," said the Doctor. "We'll be going. Come along, Rose."

A spear blocked their path. The Thal stared from Rose to the Doctor to Rose again. To the Doctor, he said, finally, "You are a stranger. You belong to a strange tribe. Thus I challenge you. The prize is your woman."

"I'm not a 'prize'!" said Rose angrily.

"No," said the Doctor, stepping in front of her. "That won't do at all. Rose is very modern. She chooses her own prizes." He started to edge away, keeping Rose behind him. "As I said, we'll just be leaving now, wouldn't want to waste any more of your exceedingly valuable time--"

The enormous Thal swatted the Doctor aside, sending him flying at least twelve feet. He hit the ground, senseless. Rose ran to his side.

"Doctor! Doctor, wake up--OH!"

The Thal had reached down and grabbed her by the hair and was now lifting her up by it.

"Stop, that HURTS!" she screamed, trying vainly to free herself from his grasp. "Let me go!"

He lifted her up with one hand and slung her over his shoulder. "You are my woman now, not his. There is no going back. Accept what fate has destined for you."


	2. Second Chances

**Chapter 2: Second Chances**

The Doctor opened his eyes. "Rose? Rose!" He sat up and listened. Her screams of indignation echoed through the forest. He scrambled to his feet and gave chase.

It didn't take long to find them. Still across his shoulder, Rose was shrieking at the top of her lungs, and also hitting, kicking, struggling, scratching, and biting as hard as she could. It didn't seem to affect the massive Thal in the least, who was strolling at a leisurely pace.

The Doctor called, "Hey! You! Stop! Put her down at once!"

"Doctor! Help me!" cried Rose, struggling harder.

The Thal kept walking, but glanced over his shoulder, his brows furrowed in confusion. Finally he said, "I challenged you. You lost." As if that settled the matter definitively, he turned back and proceeded on his way.

"You cheated!" The Doctor had to trot to keep up with the Thal's long strides. "You attacked me unawares."

The Thal sighed wearily. "Stranger, I do not want to injure you. Accept your fate."

"Coward! Fight, you coward!" cried the Doctor.

The Thal stopped. He turned around. "I am no coward," he said, darkly. "You will regret what you said." He put down his spear and took Rose off his shoulder. He pointed his finger at her. "Do not run away."

Immediately, of course, Rose ran to the Doctor's side. He grabbed her hand. "Back to the TARDIS, go!" They sprinted away.

Too soon the heavy footfalls came closer and closer behind them; they were still some distance from the TARDIS. The Doctor let go of Rose's hand. "Keep running!" he cried, then turned to face his opponent.

The Thal lunged at the Doctor. He was over a foot taller than the Doctor, and weighed almost twice as much. But somehow, the Doctor managed to twist out of his grasp, apply a bit of leverage and...

_FLIP!_

The Thal was on his back. But he was up again in an instant, clutching at the tails of the Doctor's coat. He shrugged it off, but the Thal was too quick. His hands closed around the Doctor's throat.

_CRACK!_

Gasping, the Doctor looked up. Standing over the now-unconscious Thal was Rose, holding a rock. "Rose!" he cried. "That was brave--and foolish. You should have kept running--"

"ARE YOU IN-JURED? WE HEARD SCREAM-ING."

Three white Kaleds had glided into the thicket, glowing opalescent in the sun. Even though Rose knew they weren't going to harm her, their resemblance to Daleks was unsettling.

"I'm all right," said the Doctor, stretching and cracking his neck. "And you're fine too, Rose? Good." He frowned suddenly, and dropped down to his knees to examine the fallen Thal, who wasn't moving. "He's another matter, I'm afraid. You hit him rather enthusiastically with that rock, Rose."

"He was going to kill you!" she protested.

"Oh, I doubt it," said the Doctor, setting about examining the Thal. He lifted the Thal's eyelids and swung his sonic screwdriver light back and forth between his pupils. "His intentions were principally matrimonial, not homicidal. If he'd wanted to kill me, he could easily have liberated my head from its shoulders. Ah--" The Doctor removed his fingers from the back of the Thal's head and lifted them up. They were covered in blood. "I was afraid of this. Depressed skull fracture. Fatal if we don't get him medical attention of a sort more sophisticated than his people can manage, I think."

"WE WILL TAKE HIM TO THE CI-TY. WE WILL DO WHAT WE CAN FOR HIM," said one of the Kaleds. It shot out a beam of light that engulfed the Thal and lifted him up. They sped away.

The remaining two Kaleds escorted the Doctor and Rose back to their city. Rose's thoughts strayed, as they often did, to _her_ Doctor. The fact that she almost met him at the Restaurant made their separation even harder to bear. But it was a comfort to her to know that she had made the right decision, to stay with this Doctor. At the time, she felt he needed her more.

Rose glanced at the Doctor walking beside her. She was touched at the compassion he had shown his enemy. She had half-expected him to say, "no second chances," and leave the Thal to his fate. Her gaze lingered. The Doctor hadn't gone back for his coat. His shirt was open at the collar, with his silk cravat untied. Rose noticed that his cream-coloured trousers fit him extremely well. His hair was tousled, and his cheeks flushed from the activity. The curve of his lips...

Apparently aware he was being studied, the Doctor turned and looked at her, his eyebrows raised in a quizzical expression, as if to say, "What?"

Rose forced a smile, then looked away quickly. "What's the matter with me?" she thought to herself. "Don't go there...don't _even_ go there." She directed her eyes forward, and studied the countryside.

Presently, they arrived at the gates of the Kaled city. Rose and the Doctor had to duck under the doorway, and the long hallways seemed very claustrophobic and cramped. They were, of course, perfectly sized for Kaleds. The corridor opened up to a larger chamber. A white Kaled with silver stripes at its dome bowed a greeting to them with its eye stalk.

"GOOD TO SEE YOU A-GAIN, DOC-TOR."

"Rose, this is Telvar," said the Doctor, "Chief Scientist of the Kaleds."

"HEL-LO ROSE."

Rose nodded and smiled uncomfortably. She couldn't help it; these creatures made her very uncomfortable.

"EX-CEL-LENT TIM-ING. COME SEE OUR PRO-TO-TYPE." The Kaled flashed its dome lights enthusiastically, then sped out of the chamber. The Doctor and Rose could barely keep up. They followed it down a long ramp to the floor of a spaceship hangar. There were a variety of craft arranged around the perimeter, but the Kaled was pointing to the one in the center.

"WE HAVE VER-Y HIGH HOPES FOR THIS ONE, DOC-TOR," said the Kaled, swinging its eye stalk back and forth. It seemed to be twitching with excitement.

Rose stared at the strange ship: it consisted of a long central, cyclindrical section, with two large spheres at one end. Then she became aware of the young man in a close-fitting flight suit standing next to it. "Doctor," she said, tentatively, "what year is this? Relative to Earth, I mean."

The Doctor counted on the fingers of one hand. "Early fifty-first century, or somewhere thereabouts. Why?"

Rose clapped her hands together and laughed. She bounded out into the hangar and threw her arms around the man in the flight suit, nearly knocking him over. "I know you don't know who I am--but I'm so _happy_ to see you!"


	3. The Dark Energy Drive

**Chapter 3: The Dark Energy Drive**

"DO THEY KNOW EACH O-THER?" Telvar swung its eye-stalk around and stared at the couple.

"They will soon," said the Doctor, dryly. "Anyway, that ship is the prototype you mentioned?"

"YES. IT WILL RE-VO-LU-TION-ISE SPACE TRA-VEL."

"Indeed, it will. Your technology will be successful beyond your wildest dreams. Not only will it fuel long-range spacecraft, but it will also power whole civilisations and even entire planetary systems. Which is why you have to stop it."

There was a pause. "EX-PLAIN."

"The more dark energy you use, the more gets created, correct?"

"YES. IT IS AN IN-EX-HAU-STI-BLE POWER SUPPLY. THAT IS THE NA-TURE OF IT."

"As your technology catches on, the supply of dark energy will grow exponentially, sending galaxies, stars and planets careening away from one another, until the fabric of spacetime breaks down entirely."

"THE BIG RIP IS JUST A THE-O-RY--"

"It's going to happen. In a sense, it has already happened. Do you want to hear something odd? I was at the Restaurant at the End of the Multiverse the other day, and do you know what I saw there? Kaleds. Kaleds waiting tables. Don't you think that's just a little bit unusual? The universe's most gifted engineers waiting tables at a restaurant?"

Telvar's dome lights flickered. "I DO NOT...I DO NOT UN-DER-STAND..."

"Do you know what I think? I think they were refugees--the last sorry survivors of the Big Rip, now eking out a meager existence on the Restaurant. Is that really how you want your people to be remembered?"

The Kaled didn't reply.

The Doctor placed his hand on its dome. "Telvar, you must find another source of power. Dark energy is far too damaging to the universe."

"BUT THERE IS NO O-THER SUI-TA-BLE SOURCE!" Its voice rose in pitch, and sounded strained, agitated. "WE HAVE TRIED. E-VEN FU-SION IS TOO LI-MI-TED. WE ARE PRO-GRAMMED FOR SUR-VI-VAL. DARK EN-ER-GY IS OUR ON-LY OP-TION!"

"Surely not. What about…" The Doctor stopped. He knew he had to choose his words carefully. "Are you aware of how the…er….Time Lords power their civilisation?"

"YES. IT IS GRA-VI-TON-BASED. BUT OUR EF-FORTS TO DUP-LI-CATE IT HAVE FAILED."

"Nonsense!" cried the Doctor. "It's relatively simple, technologically. Infinitely less complicated than a dark energy drive."

"WE HAVE TRIED FOR CEN-TUR-IES. COULD YOU HELP US, DOC-TOR?"

"No," said the Doctor, glancing away quickly. "I can't."

Telvar didn't reply, but pointed its eye stalk at the Doctor and stared.

"But…perhaps if I knew _why_ you'd failed, it might be helpful…" The Doctor swallowed hard. He was treading very dangerously.

"What would be helpful? Hey, if I can help you, say the word!" The man in the flight suit swaggered up to the Doctor and clapped a hand on his shoulder, looking him up and down. "Captain Jack Harkness, test pilot, space corps." He smiled brilliantly and stuck out his hand.

"How do you do, I'm the Doctor." They shook hands; the handshake lingered as Jack gazed into the Doctor's eyes.

"Great to meet you, Doctor. I see you've met Telvar." Finally releasing the Doctor's hand, Jack rubbed and patted the top of Telvar's dome, as if it were a pet.

"And I see you've met Rose," said the Doctor, raising an eyebrow as Jack snaked his arm about her waist.

"Yes, she's been telling me all about her parallel universe--and the parallel Jack." He winked at her and grinned. "So, is everybody ready? I know I am, can't wait to get out there and--"

"THE LAUNCH IS CAN-CELLED. THE DOC-TOR HAS CON-VINCED ME WE NEED TO DO MORE RE-SEARCH FIRST."

"More research?" cried Jack. "I can't believe it! You keep delaying this launch. You'll learn so much more about it once I actually fly the thing."

The Kaled didn't answer. It turned around and headed up the ramp. The Doctor followed. Jack called after them, "I know this technology is new, I know it's risky, but at some point, you've just got to take the plunge. If I'm willing to risk it, so should you!"

The Doctor stopped at the top of the ramp. "Are you coming, Rose?"

"Um...I'm good. Captain Jack and I are...he's gonna show me all these...er...spaceships." Rose blushed.

"I see. Right, see you later." He glanced over his shoulder at Rose and Jack one more time, and then caught up to the Kaled. "When did you start using human test pilots?"

"EARTH WANTS TO LIC-ENCE OUR TECH-NO-LO-GY."

"Earth?" said the Doctor, sounding alarmed. "Do you really think that's wise, at this stage in their development? They still have a certain penchant for blowing things up, and the amount of power dark energy liberates--"

"WE KNOW. ONCE THE DRIVE IS PER-FEC-TED, WE WILL PRO-TECT OUR TECH-NO-LO-GY SO THAT IT CAN-NOT BE DU-PLI-CA-TED OR WEA-PON-IZED."

"I certainly hope so," said the Doctor. "In any case, I imagine Earth won't be at all happy if you scuttle the project."

"THEY WILL NOT BE THE ON-LY UN-HAP-PY ONES." Telvar turned a corner and headed towards a large, dome-shaped room full of hundreds of Kaleds, each plugged into a floor socket via their plunger-like attachments. As Telvar and the Doctor entered, each Kaled turned to face them. There was a long silence as they proceeded down the central aisle.

Finally another silver-striped Kaled glided up to meet them. "WHY DID YOU DE-LAY THE LAUNCH?"

"THERE ARE PROB-LEMS. I WILL EX-PLAIN LA-TER." Telvar continued down the aisle.

"EARTH WANTS AN EX-PLAN-A-TION NOW."

Telvar's voice rose in pitch. "TELL THEM TO WAIT. I DO NOT TAKE OR-DERS FROM EARTH!"

Ignoring the other Kaleds, Telvar headed to the far end of the room, through the doors of an enclosed office. In the corner was an elaborate headset. "PUT IT ON," said Telvar, as it plugged its plunger into an adjacent socket.

The Doctor picked up the headset tentatively, turning it this way and that. Finally, he set it on his head in what seemed to be the correct orientation. Immediately, tiny electrodes snaked forwards and attached themselves to his scalp. He closed his eyes. He felt his body fade, as if he were in a transmat beam.

An instant later, he felt solid. He could feel something warming his skin. He opened his eyes to brilliant sunshine, although he didn't have to squint. A cool breeze lifted his hair. He took a breath; he could distinguish individual scents: grass, trees, flowers, perfume. It was as if the volume on every one of his senses had been dialed up a hundredfold. The intensity was nearly overwhelming. After a moment, that last scent started to intrigue him. Perfume? He turned around.

A woman was standing near him. She was tall, with long, silvery hair and opalescent skin that almost seemed to glow. For a moment, he wondered if she might be a Thal; but her diaphanous dress seemed hardly the sort of thing a primitive people could construct. "I'm the Doctor," he said to her, at last. "How do you do?"

She smiled at him, and took his hand. He gasped. The sensation was electrifying--and unreal.

"Your virtual reality is really fairly convincing," said the Doctor, when he had caught his breath. "You had me fooled for a minute or two. The sensory overload gave it away--"

She pulled him into an embrace. She wound her arms about him, and pressed her lips against his. He thought his head--no, his body--no, his entire existence was going to explode.

After an painfully wonderful eternity, she released him. "Hello, Doctor. We've met already. I'm Telvar."


	4. The Hero

**Chapter Four: The Hero**

Rose reclined on a narrow bunk. Despite the cramped quarters, the Dark Energy ship had a certain streamlined, minimalistic elegance. Soft amber light radiated from the walls and the ceiling, bathing everything in a warm glow. "I can see why you like this ship so much," said Rose, stretching languorously. "Too bad--"

"About the delay?" Jack was sitting at the foot of the bunk, smoking a cigar. "I'm used to it. These Kaleds are so cautious, it drives me crazy. But something I don't understand--where does your friend fit into all this?"

"The Doctor?" Rose bit her lip. "He wants the launch delayed...indefinitely."

"Indefinitely? Why?" asked Jack, sounding startled. "Doesn't he realise how important it is? How much Earth needs this?"

"Yeah...thing is," said Rose, "dark energy is very, um, destructive to the universe. It will rip everything to pieces in a million million years. The Doctor was telling me that the universe ought to live to be at least...er...10 to the 150 years--that's a one with 150 zeroes--"

"He's worried about what's going to happen in a million million years? I'll tell you what'll happen--in a million million years we'll all be dead! Who cares what happens then? Earth needs this right _now_. Things are getting desperate--"

"Jack, I'm sorry." Rose swung her legs over the side of the bunk and sat up next to him. "But I know Earth survives and humans survive for billions of years at least. The Doctor says that this 'Big Rip' might start to affect other parallel universes as well. We've got to stop it. This is big, Jack, it's beyond big. You _have_ to help us." She looked at him pleadingly. "The other Jack would have."

Jack stubbed out his cigar. He looked away. "Even if I wanted to help you, I couldn't. Nothing will stand in the way of dark energy. Earth and Skaro are too heavily invested in it. The only reason for all the launch delays is that the Kaleds want to be absolutely certain..." He trailed off.

"What?"

Jack slid off the bunk, and began to pace up and down the narrow passageway. "Dark Energy is what grabs whole galaxies and flings them across space. It's powerful--and really, really unstable. The Kaleds have been working on it for years, almost a century. Every time they've failed. But now they say they finally have a stable drive. Most people don't believe them. That's why this test flight is so critical." He stopped pacing and stood opposite the bunk. "If something goes wrong, if something goes _really_ wrong with the launch, it will be the end. Earth will pull their funding and the Kaleds will give up."

"Ha! You're going to help us. I knew it!" She jumped off the bunk and gave him a quick hug. "So what are you thinking? Sabotage?"

"You could call it that," he said, grimly. "But I had something a little more spectacular in mind."

Rose looked up at him for a minute, uncomprehending. Then she understood. She felt ill. "No. No, you can't. We can help you, the Doctor and me. We'll get you off the ship before you--"

Jack shook his head. "Too risky. I won't be able to control the timing. Besides, if the Kaleds detect anything funny, they might catch on. No, I've got to make it look like a catastrophic drive malfunction."

Rose's eyes filled with tears. "Jack…you don't have to do this. There's got to be another way."

He put his arms around her and pulled her close. "Don't cry, Rose. You told me the other Jack was a hero. He gave his life for you and for the Earth." He looked down at her and winked. "I'm not gonna let some other Jack one-up me. Save the Earth, so what? _I'm_ going to save the universe!"


	5. Fire

**Chapter Five: Fire**

The Doctor stared, goggle-eyed, panting, incapable of speech.

"Is something the matter?" Telvar asked. "Captain Harkness taught us that labial contact is the proper form of greeting between humanoid friends. I must have done it improperly. I'll try again." She moved towards him.

"No! N-no, you got it quite right, quite right indeed," the Doctor stammered, backing away. "This headset desperately wants adjusting; the sensory gain is set far too high."

"Really?" said Telvar. "Captain Harkness spent a very long time calibrating the settings. I'm surprised you don't find them more realistic. Anyway, the research library is this way." She pointed towards a stone edifice, with vast pillars framing a massive door.

The image of the door shifted and faded before his eyes. He stared at it, frowning. "Rendering problems. There's some ghosting artifact at the entrance. Your central processor must be under quite a bit of strain at the moment."

"I don't notice anything," said Telvar. "Perhaps the fault is with your headset."

"_Or my head_," thought the Doctor. It was still spinning.

They went inside. The entrance opened up into a vast reading room, wood-paneled with bookcases along the walls. In the center of the room were several long tables, and clusters of overstuffed chairs along the sides. A fire burned brightly in the large hearth on the opposite wall.

"Don't worry," said Telvar. "You won't have to sift through miles of stacks. Just find a comfortable chair and concentrate on what you want; it will appear in the nearest bookcase."

He did so; and rows of neat laboratory notebooks appeared on an adjacent set of shelves. "Marvelous!" he said. "But I wouldn't have suspected you'd pick such a...low-tech virtual reality."

"Our lives are somewhat sterile. We prefer to make our virtual worlds as tactile as possible." As if to prove her point, she took his hand and laced her fingers through his. To the Doctor, the sensation was like an ice pick to the pleasure centers of his brain: intoxicating, excruciating, and completely distracting.

With difficulty, he disentangled his fingers, and reached for the first laboratory notebook. He flipped it open and studied it. She leaned close and read over his shoulder. He tried to concentrate; but with her so close, he could smell not only her perfume, but also her hair and her skin. Such a sophisticated virtual reality--so why was there so much ghosting artifact on the pages? He tried to read the notebook again; but his eyes were swimming. Or were they?

He dropped the notebook, and reached for another. This one he studied more carefully. The Kaleds had got so close, so very close to working out the graviton solution. But again, they hit a block. And that ghosting artifact returned. Equations slipped in and out before his eyes.

He reached for a third notebook. He marveled at the work. They were so brilliant--they had attempted a sophisticated and completely novel approach. Graviton theory should have been childishly simple for them to develop. And yet, they didn't. The last pages of the notebook faded before his eyes, then seemed to fracture and form again. It was wrong, everything about it was terribly, terribly wrong.

Suddenly, he realised what was going on.

"I'm not the first," he breathed. "And I certainly wasn't the last. Hypocrites!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Telvar, alarmed at his outburst. "What's the matter?"

"I thought it was just me. But they're the ones who've _really_ been mucking about here, over and over again. But they would have held me entirely responsible, disavowed all their involvement, all their culpability. How would it have gone, I wonder, had I returned to Gallifrey as instructed? Another sham trial, ignominious exile? If that's what they want, I'll give them a reason--I'll give them a reason indeed!"

"Gallifrey? What do the Time Lords have to do with anything?"

"Everything!" The Doctor reached into a pocket, producing a pencil. He flipped open the nearest notebook and started scribbling in the back of it. "Ever since the end of your great war, the Time Lords have been watching you very closely, following and shaping your history."

"But…I thought…don't they abstain from all interference?"

Hollow laughter answered her. "I'm guilty, too. You're a Kaled because of me. Otherwise you would have developed into Daleks--evil creatures bereft of pity, conscience--"

"What? You? But...you did not have the right--"

"Correct. Nor did we have the right to stop you from developing Graviton theory. But these niceties don't matter much to the Time Lords." He turned the notebook around and handed it to her.

She puzzled over the equations for a moment. Then she clapped her hand over her mouth in astonishment. "This is it! What we looked for so many years! Graviton theory! But…I don't understand. Why would the Time Lords want to keep this from us?"

"Because if you crack Graviton theory, you crack time travel, too." The Doctor's eyes flashed. A vein throbbed at his temple. "If you'd been able to develop Graviton theory naturally, you would never have gone on to tackle the much more difficult problem of Dark Energy. Thus, the Big Rip is as much their fault as it is yours--or mine! And yet they would have blamed me for it, me alone!"

Telvar threw her arms around the Doctor's neck. "Thank you. Thank you so much for giving us--"

But to the Doctor, in his angry, agitated state combined with his unnaturally heightened senses in the virtual reality, this was like throwing gunpowder on a flame. "Don't touch me!" he snarled, as he jerked away. He reached up and fumbled for the headset. "Never touch me!" His body seemed to fade away.

"I WILL NOT TOUCH YOU."

The Doctor opened his eyes. In place of the ethereal woman was a white Kaled. It regarded the Doctor through its eye stalk.

"No," said the Doctor, softly, immediately ashamed at his outburst. "No, you won't. You can't."

Telvar said nothing.

The Doctor reached out and laid a hand on Telvar's dome. "I am sorry."

"IT IS IR-RE-LE-VANT."

They were interrupted by the appearance of another Kaled in the doorway. "TEL-VAR, THE SUP-REME KA-LED HAS SPO-KEN. THE LAUNCH WILL COM-MENCE AT ONCE."

"NO, WE MUST WAIT! WE HAVE TO--"

"NO MORE DE-LAYS. THE COUNT-DOWN BE-GINS."


	6. Prometheus Bound

**Chapter 6: Prometheus Bound**

Rose clung tightly to Captain Jack. She couldn't believe she was going to lose him again, so soon. He gave her a final squeeze and kissed the top of her head. "See you in the next lifetime, kid."

With a wink, he left her, and headed back towards his ship. The hangar's dome ceiling opened. Light from Skaro's setting suns streamed inside. The sky above was bright with clouds in every shade of pink, red, and orange. He turned back to her one last time and waved. Holding back her tears, she blew him a kiss as he got inside. The door shut behind him with a clang. Slowly the ship rose, hovering above the ground for a moment. Then it shot up into the sky and disappeared.

Just then, Telvar zoomed down the ramp into the hangar, with the Doctor following at a run. "We're too late," he panted, surveying the empty bay and the sky above.

Telvar said nothing, but plugged its plunger into a nearby mainframe socket, monitoring the launch.

Rose hardly noticed them. She walked to the center of the bay, where Jack's ship had been just moments before, and gazed up at the sky. She knew what was coming. The worst part was waiting for it.

The wind seemed to change; it had been a gentle breeze when the dome ceiling had first opened. Now it was blowing hard--straight up. A black shape like an ink blot appeared suddenly and expanded, high in the sky. In an instant, it had turned the sunset's blood-red clouds black. Pieces of it began to rain down, leaving streams of darkness across the sky in their wake, like a firework in reverse. The blackness soon covered the sky, blotting out what remained of the failing evening light. Several seconds later, a rumbling noise vibrated the floor, like a low scream.

A faraway voice called, "Strangelets! Telvar, shut the dome!" The intensity of the vibration grew stronger. It knocked her off her feet. Someone caught her and guided her away, off the floor of the bay. The dome ceiling closed. The vibration began to fade. Only a terrible stillness remained.

"CA-TA-STROPH-IC DARK EN-ER-GY DRIVE MAL-FUNC-TION CON-FIRMED. IT IS O-VER. WE WILL DE-VEL-OP GRA-VI-TON THE-O-RY."

Slowly, Rose became aware that someone was holding her. The Time Lord's arms were around her; her head was against his chest. "I'm sorry," he said, gently. "You were fond of him, weren't you?"

"He did it on purpose," she whispered. "He blew it up. He sacrificed himself. Said it was the only way to stop the Dark Energy drive..."

"Poor Jack. If only I could have..." She felt his chest rise and fall as he sighed heavily. "Rose, I know you want to stay here, I know you want to mourn him, but we have to leave here immediately."

She looked up at him in confusion. "Why?"

"Because I've...look, I'll explain later. I need to disappear for a while." He took her hand. "Come on. We have to go." Too shocked to argue, Rose followed.

They made a brief farewell to Telvar, then hurried out of the Kaled city. At the exit, however, their path was blocked--by the enormous Thal. He had a bandage on his head, but appeared to be largely recovered.

"Not _you_ again!" snapped the Doctor impatiently. "I don't have time for this. Let us pass!"

The Thal dropped to one knee. "You bested me in combat. I am in your service."

"I didn't best you, she did," said the Doctor, nodding at Rose. "She dropped a rock on your head."

"I was defeated by...a woman?" The Thal looked aghast.

"Yes," said the Doctor. "I told you she was modern."

"And the Doctor saved your life," said Rose. "The rock would have killed you, but he insisted the Kaleds take care of you. Now please, get out of the way." They pressed past him and ran outside.

The Thal's voice echoed plaintively after them, "A life-debt unpaid...and the shame...beaten by a woman...I cannot return to my tribe...oh, bitter fate…"

A little while later, as the light failed, they found the thicket of trees where they had landed. The Doctor exclaimed in frustration, "It's the same problem as always! You can't find something invisible in the dark!"

"It's got to be here somewhere," said Rose, feeling around with her hands. "We'll find it. While we're looking, maybe you can tell me why we're running away?"

The Doctor opened his mouth to reply; but just then a Kaled glided up to them. "Is that you, Telvar?" asked the Doctor. "What's the matter?"

"THE SHIP WAS NOT DES-TROYED" said Telvar in an agitated voice.

"The ship," said Rose, hope rising in her chest. "The Dark Energy ship? Jack's ship? He's alive? Tell me he's safe!"

"THE EX-PLO-SION WAS A DE-COY. THE SHIP IS HEAD-ING TO EARTH."

"What? Heading to Earth? You mean--he _stole_ it?" gasped the Doctor.

"He stole it?" echoed Rose. "No, you're wrong. Jack's a hero. He wouldn't steal anything. He blew it up on purpose, said it was the only way. He said…he promised me..."

"NONE OF OUR RE-MAIN-ING SHIPS ARE FAST E-NOUGH TO O-VER-TAKE HIM."

"Don't worry, Telvar, we can catch him up in the TARDIS," said the Doctor.

Rose, slowly realising the depths of Jack's betrayal and perfidy, was trembling. "He _lied_ to me," she hissed. Her fingers balled into fists. "We'll catch him all right...and when we do..."

"Hell hath no fury like..." Rose shot him a warning look. The Doctor coughed. "Anyway...don't worry, Telvar, we'll get your ship back. Er...once we actually _find_ the TARDIS, that is."

"It's here," said Rose, knocking on something invisible.

Once inside the TARDIS, the Doctor set about tracking the Dark Energy ship. "Shouldn't be too difficult...yes, it's leaving a most distinctive energy signature. Aha! Child's play." The Doctor flipped a large lever, and the TARDIS came to life, dematerialising with its usual scream. "We'll be there in no time--Rose, don't look like that, you're scaring _me_. Poor Jack, he won't know what's hit him--hopefully not another rock, ha ha--"

The TARDIS jerked suddenly and changed direction. "No!" said the Doctor. "No, no, no, no, NO!" He began frantically flipping levers, twisting dials, and punching buttons. Several moments later, the TARDIS materialised and landed. The Doctor slowly stepped away from the console, and stared at the door.

The door handle began to jiggle.

"Doctor, what's happening?" asked Rose. "Tell me what's going on."

He didn't answer. She followed his gaze to the door. The handle kept moving.

She suddenly felt very cold. "Doctor, you said no one could get into the TARDIS. You--he said that the assembled hordes of Ghengis Khan couldn't get in."

Still he didn't answer her. His face grew pale.

Despite her best efforts, fear set in. She began to breathe hard. "Doctor, something's getting in, isn't it? What is it? Answer me!"

Abruptly, he turned to face her. She knew the look; she'd seen it in the Restaurant--his blue eyes glittered like polished steel. In an even tone, he said, "Rose, no matter what happens, I want you to promise me something."

"All right," she breathed.

"Don't go after me. You must find Jack. You have to stop that ship from reaching Earth. That is the most important thing you can possibly do. Promise me, Rose!"

She started to reply, but just then the TARDIS doors burst open. Three Gallifreyan guards entered. Following them was a small man with a pinched, rat-like face. His dark eyes shone with malevolent glee.

"Doctor, you are under arrest for highest treason," he said, in a calm, bureaucratic voice. Rose recognised it immediately; this was the same person the Doctor had been speaking to prior to their landing on Skaro.

"No!" she cried. "He hasn't done anything! You can't--"

They took no notice of her. The guards seized the Doctor and manacled him. As he was marched away, the Doctor called over his shoulder to her, "Rose, remember! Promise me!"

And then they were gone.

Rose was left standing, alone on an alien planet, in the middle of a TARDIS she couldn't operate, charged with a task she had no idea how to do.

**END PART I**


	7. The Doctor's Advice

**Chapter 7: The Doctor's Advice**

Rose stood still for a moment. The only sound she could hear was the blood throbbing in her ears. Every part of her wanted to race outside, to follow the Doctor, to see where they were taking him. But he had specifically made her promise not to do that. "Find Jack," he had said. But how?

She found herself looking at the central console of the TARDIS. "You're alive," murmured Rose, leaning forwards and putting her hands on it. "I'm all alone except for you. You've got to help me."

Silence.

"I'm mad," thought Rose. "It can't speak to me." She leaned back; and as she did so, her hand brushed against a small button. A hologram flickered on. It was an old man with long white hair, dressed in a black frock coat with check trousers. Rose recognised him immediately--she had seen him on the Restaurant at the End of the Multiverse, and at the time had thought he was one of the Doctor's later regenerations.

"Susan," said the hologram. "If you're seeing this, it means we've somehow got separated and you or I or both of us are in danger. Obviously I've no way of knowing what the danger is, but I'm going to give you some general advice. First, stay calm. You tend to lose your head in difficult situations, which is a pity because you really are a bright girl."

Rose stared at the hologram in confusion. How could the TARDIS be showing her an image of one of the Doctor's future regenerations? She decided it must have something to do with the unusual nature of time on board the TARDIS. In any case, the man in this hologram seemed far kinder than the one she had met in the restaurant. He certainly seemed to care about Susan, whoever she might be.

The hologram continued, "Second, take stock of your assets. Identify the factors operating for and against you; and especially take heed of your friends. If you don't have any at the moment, make some. That is your best hope of success. Never underestimate the willingness of people to help you.

"Thirdly and finally, my dear Susan, do not give way to despair. With enough persistence, and a mind open to possibilties, things often have a way of working out. Good luck."

The hologram flickered out. Rose closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Somehow hearing the Doctor's voice--any Doctor, even one she had disliked--was comforting to her. "Right. Stay calm." She took a few more deep breaths.

"Assets--one TARDIS. Friends on Gallifrey--none." She sighed helplessly and felt the panic return. "No. No, he said don't despair," she told herself. Perhaps she didn't have any real friends here, but she did know one person: Councillor Romana. And...wait...then there was Romana's guard and the archeological team, all of whose lives she had helped save during the contagion. She had even received a personal thank-you from the Lord President of Gallifrey for her help. When she thought about it, she realised she had met or was connected to a great many people.

"So, what do I need?" she said aloud. "I need...a Time Lord who can pilot this TARDIS. And I need someone to help capture Jack when we find him. I need...I need Romana and her guard! And if they can't help me, I'll find...I'll find the Lord President. Yes! I can do this! I _will_ do it!" Triumphantly, Rose raced out of the TARDIS and into the Citadel.

Actually finding Councillor Romana's office was the first difficulty; the Citadel was a maze of identical marble corridors. She wished she had paid closer attention the first time she had visited. Still she kept running--and sighed audibly with relief when she found herself in a familiar marble antechamber with very tall doors at one end. A guard in a high-collared robe and flanged helmet blocked the entrance. He stared straight ahead.

"I need to see Councillor Romana," said Rose, breathlessly. "Please, it's an emergency."

"Do you have an appointment?" asked the guard, looking down at her.

"No, I--"

"Then you will have to wait."

"You don't understand!" cried Rose. "It's very important! I have to see her now."

The guard stood, stony-faced, and did not answer.

"It's about her friend! It's about her good friend, the Doctor!" Rose shouted this very loudly, hoping her voice would carry through to the other side of the door.

"Stop shouting," said the guard. "Wait."

Rose stared at the guard's face--yes, she recognised him. "You..." She pointed at him. "You had the contagion. I saved your life. You owe me a favour. At least tell her I'm here, please."

"She knows you are here," said the guard. He nodded at an orb affixed to the wall. It rotated and pulsed a glowing blue.

Rose sat down on a nearby marble bench and held her head in her hands. But she couldn't stand it; she got up and started pacing. A few minutes later, she asked the guard, "How much longer?"

Just then the enormous doors creaked open. The little man with the pinched, rat-like face exited. He started to hurry past her; then stopped and did a double-take. "Ah, so _there_ you are. We've been looking for you." He glanced back into Romana's office. "Here she is. I'll just sent a detail back to--"

"No need." Romana's voice echoed from within her office. "I'll take care of it. That is, unless you actually _want_ to spend time with the human?"

"No, not at all," said the man, wrinkling his nose. "Thank you for saving me the trouble." He bustled off.

Before Rose could respond, the guard pushed her into Councillor Romana's office and shut the door. Romana was standing behind her desk, regal in her high-collared, glittering robes.

"What was that all about?" asked Rose. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. I'm here because the Doctor--"

"The Doctor is in custody, on very serious charges," said Romana. She spoke strongly and clearly, as if she were making a speech. Her eyes flitted once to a blue orb set into the opposite wall. "There is nothing you can do to help him."

"I know," said Rose, her heart sinking. "I'm here because he asked me to do something. You see, there's this dark energy ship, it was stolen off Skaro, Captain Jack is taking it back to Earth, we've got to get it back or the Big Rip--"

"As the Doctor's companion, you could be held as an accomplice to his crimes."

Rose's face fell. "No..."

Romana went on. "Fortunately, however, I have had a chat with Chancellor Nequamlupus, and in light of your past services to Gallifrey, we have decided to be merciful."

"Merciful?" Somehow, Rose didn't like the sound of that. "What do you mean?"

"You memories of the Time Lords and Gallifrey will be erased, and you will be returned to Earth. It is an ideal solution all around: you'll neither miss the Doctor nor pine for the stars, as you'll remember neither. You shall live out the rest of your life as you were meant to."

"No!" cried Rose as the guard seized her from behind and secured her wrists. "NO! You can't do this, STOP!"

As she was marched through the marble corridors, Rose fought feelings of mounting horror and despair. It was one thing to lose the Doctor--but to lose all memories of him? She had changed so much in the last couple of years; was she now going to go back to the way she was? She had been happy in an ordinary sort of way, but now she knew she was capable of so much more.

The old Doctor's words came back to her once more: "Do not give way to despair," she told herself silently. "With enough persistence and a mind open to possibilities--"

They stopped in front of a pair of wooden doors set into the side of a marble corridor. "In there," said Romana. The guard turned the handle and opened the door.

"I'm not going in there!" cried Rose. "I'm not! You're not going to take my memories, you're not doing anything to my mind!" She struggled hard, but it was no use. The guard shoved her inside. The door clicked shut behind her.


	8. Enemy of the State

**Enemy of the State**

Through the endless maze of twisting hallways, the Doctor was marched to the heart of the Citadel. The guards led him to a shadowy, circular room. A marble armchair sat at its centre. "No, that's all right, I prefer to stand," said the Doctor as the guards pushed him down into it. The moment he sat, the marble became liquid, oozing around the Doctor's arms, legs, and body. Moments later, it solidified again, holding him in a rigid embrace.

A brilliant shaft of light appeared just above the chair, illuminating and nearly blinding the Doctor. Squinting, he could barely make out the figures of three Time Lords seated at the perimeter of the room. One of them was the rat-faced man, who stepped forward and cleared his throat; the Doctor couldn't see his face clearly, but was convinced the man was positively twitching with excitement.

"Doctor," his voice echoed, in that bizarre, unearthly sound that circular rooms make, "you are charged with high treason. You have broken the first oath of Rassilon. On Skaro, you revealed the secrets of Graviton theory to the Kaleds, thus giving them the ability to generate energy from black holes and also travel through time. Thus, you are hereby sentenced to--"

"Wait a moment, wait a moment!" the Doctor protested. "I think we've missed a step somewhere. What is it? Let me think, hang on a minute..." He furrowed his brow and made a show of concentrating. "Aha, I know! A trial! You can't go straight to sentencing without a trial--although you are to be commended for your enthusiasm, Chancellor Nequamlupus. I plead not guilty. I look forward to submitting my defence."

"You are a traitor, a renegade, and an enemy of Gallifrey, Doctor," spat Nequamlupus. "As such, you have no right to a trial. Your sentence is this: you shall be cryogenically frozen and perpetually detained on Shada."

"Shada," breathed the Doctor. "No! It was supposed to be dismantled, the prisoners to get new trials. Romana--"

"Is no longer Lady President. And Chronotis won't be President either, not for very much longer. Their reforms proved...unpopular." Nequamlupus smiled unpleasantly. "Romana, at least, has seen reason. The people do not want us to be soft on crime. They need law and order; I mean to give it to them. Court dismissed."

The marble chair began to wobble; and then, with a sudden lurch, dropped. Down it descended, forty stories in all, until it jerked to a halt. Then it turned liquid again. It melted away from the Doctor and dissolved into the wall, leaving him sprawled on the floor.

Immediately, two guards seized him by the elbows and dragged him to his feet. They searched him, and confiscated his sonic screwdriver, setting it on a small table; then they flipped a switch and left.

Disorientated, the Doctor took a moment to get his bearings. He was standing in a small, windowless white room with a single doorway. He tried to reach through it for his screwdriver--and was immediately flung backwards by a force field. This, he realised with some chagrin, was a prison cell--the same cell, in fact, that the Master had occupied not so long ago.

The Doctor sat on the cell's lone bench. This was all too familiar. Imprisoned--_again_--by his own people. No matter. There was a way out of any cage; he had only to find it. He steepled his fingers, staring at his sonic screwdriver. He had telepathic abilities, not strong at a distance, but they were there; and also, on rare occasions, he was able to tap into telekinetic powers. He tried to concentrate; but his thoughts kept returning to Rose.

What was she doing? He had told her to go after Jack principally to keep her from attempting anything foolish on his behalf. Perhaps he should have just told her to wait in the TARDIS for him. She'd eventually decide he wasn't coming back, and use the emergency return switch to get home.

Would the Time Lords associate her with his actions? Surely they wouldn't imprison a human? No, likely just wipe her memories and send her home. He sighed. Perhaps that would be a kindness. He's seen how she pined for "her" Doctor; and, more recently, the way she had been looking at him. Everything was so much less complicated when his incarnations appeared physically older. If he followed his better judgment, he really ought to...

"On the other hand," he said aloud, "why break the habits of a lifetime?" He glanced at the blue orb affixed to the wall of his cell. What would the watchers think of that?

He directed his attention back to the sonic screwdriver. He had built it, he was connected to it, often he felt it was a part of himself. He focussed his mind upon it. It twitched.

The Doctor closed his eyes, concentrating harder, picturing the screwdriver clearly in his mind. Then he opened his eyes again, slowly. The screwdriver was hovering about an inch over the table. He turned it in the direction of the force field switch--

The sound of footsteps in the hallway broke his concentration. The screwdriver fell. It bounced off the table, hit the marble floor and shattered. He winced.

"Doctor." He looked up. Councillor Romana was standing before him, flanked by her guard. She was holding an ancient book.

"Romana!" He sprang to his feet and opened his arms wide, as if to embrace her. "There you are! I knew you'd come, of course. What took you so long?" Somewhat to his surprise, Romana did not answer. She stared at him stony-faced. She was teasing him, surely, he thought. He pouted at her. "Did you leave me here to wait on purpose? I've been so _desperately_ bored. Come on, let me out." He stepped forward, hitting the force field, which crackled to life and flung him backwards, harder than before. It took him several seconds to recover.

Clearly, she was going to make him really work for this. All right--he'd certainly teased her enough in their time together. He pressed his hands together in mock supplication, "Oh, please, please, please, _please_ Romana, drop the force field, there's a good girl." He smiled at her (he thought) rakishly, and gazed deeply into her eyes. "Romana, my dear old friend, I know you're having a bit of fun, but we really don't have time for this. Surely you're not still in a strop about that time...you know, the time that I...that we..." He trailed off. She hadn't smirked or scowled or laughed or responded to him in any way. Something definitely wasn't right. He blinked at her in confusion. "Romana?"

Romana's eyes flicked to the blue orb. Her expression was grim. She drew herself up. "I am here to take you to Shada. The prison ship is waiting."

He stared at her, speechless for a moment. Then he laughed, or tried to. "Ah, that's a good one, Romana, very funny, very clever. But I know my Romana. As if you'd ever...I mean, as if you would--you _would_?"

She didn't reply. She stared past him.

"No. No, Romana...I can't believe it. Is this...is this about..._politics_? Your career? Is that what you care about now? How could you? How could you do this to _me_, to your old friend, after everything we've--"

"You are an enemy of the state. I hope you will come quietly."

Romana released the force field. Her guard moved forward, and jerked the Doctor from his cell. He didn't resist. As he was led away, he murmured softly to her, "Et tu, Brute?"


	9. Tea and TARDISes

**Chapter 9: Tea and TARDISes**

To Rose's great surprise, she found that she was standing in the middle of a cosy sitting room. Books spilled out from shelves lining the wall; and were stacked high on the floor and covered every table. In the corner was an elderly gentleman in an armchair, reading. His hair was entirely white and he was dressed in a threadbare, stained tweed suit. A tea-trolley sat nearby. Presently, he glanced up at her. "Ah, there you are. Would you like some tea?'

"Tea?" she said in disbelief. "Is that how it works? You give me tea and wipe my memories?"

"Good gracious, I certainly hope not," he said, shutting his book. "If we're going to find that...er...that thing we're supposed to find..._one_ of us needs to be able to remember what it is."

Rose blinked at him, open-mouthed, for a moment. "So...so you're _not_ going to do anything to my mind."

"No."

"You're...you're going to _help_ me?"

"Yes," he said, pleasantly. "And, in my estimation, what will help you the most is tea." He poured a cup and handed it to her.

Still in a state of shock, she took the cup automatically and sipped it. She immediately began to feel calmer. "Ah, that's good...hang on, how is it there's _tea_ on Gallifrey?"

He smiled. "I once lived on Earth for many years. Cambridge."

"Cambridge? Why...Cambridge?"

"I suppose it reminded me of home. English academics aggressively resist any sort of change; and, because the stakes are so small, their politics are simply _vicious_."

Rose laughed. There was something very warm and familiar about this man. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. Then--she sputtered and nearly choked on her tea.

"Something the matter, my dear?"

"You...you're the president of Gallifrey! You're Lord President Chronotis."

"Yes, I suppose I am," he shrugged. He sounded almost embarrassed about it.

"But...but can't you help the Doctor? He's in some sort of serious trouble, I don't know what it is, exactly, but maybe you could pardon him or something?"

"It's not that simple, I'm afraid." He glanced away. "Gallifreyan politics have become rather...complicated of late. Anyway, right now, our mission is to...is to..." He scratched his head. "Er...what is it we're supposed to be doing?"

"The Doctor said we've got to catch the Dark Energy ship before it gets to Earth."

"Ah yes, that. Earth will surely want to weaponise Dark Energy, and then it's brown trousers time for everyone." He got up and moved towards what appeared to be a jukebox, and began to fiddle with its knobs. "Now, the tricky bit is going to be landing at the exact moment." He studied the jukebox lights for a moment. "Here we are, major disturbance in the Time Vortex, when the Doctor's TARDIS was diverted...and the Dark Energy trail near Skaro...yes, there it is. Let's go."

Rose got up. "Where to?" She started towards the door.

But then she heard the familiar scream of time and space being moved apart. For this was no mere sitting room--it was a TARDIS.

Footsteps echoed down the marble corridor from which the TARDIS had just dematerialised. Marched along by Romana and her guard, the Doctor stared ahead, unseeing. Being imprisoned had annoyed him. Losing his sonic screwdriver had distressed him. But Romana's betrayal had absolutely shattered him. He almost looked forward to being frozen for an eternity.

Romana walked beside him, her face expressionless. "Nice acting job back there," she said, softly, hardly moving her lips. "You could be on the stage. 'Et tu, Brute,' indeed."

Her words took a moment to sink in. Suddenly he stopped, seized her shoulders, and cried, "Romana! You mean--" Her guard grabbed his arms and jerked him back.

"Eyes front, prisoner," Romana said, loudly, as they passed another blue orb. Once it was out of sight, Romana whispered, "You didn't seriously think that I was going to...what? You _did_? You actually thought that I would--" She thumped the back of his head. "Idiot!"

"Yes, I am. I never should have doubted you, Romana."

"Wipe that silly grin off your face, there's another orb ahead. Look miserable, despairing, like you did before--that expression was perfect."

Several more turns and they were in a dimly-lit chamber. There was an orb attached to the wall, but it wasn't glowing.

"Here we are," said Romana.

"And here is where, exactly?" asked the Doctor.

"Must I explain everything?" She jerked her thumb in the direction of an empty space--an empty, shimmering space.

"My TARDIS!" he exclaimed. "Romana, how can I ever thank you enough?" He threw his arms around her tightly, lifting her feet from the floor.

"No! Doctor!" She struggled out of his grasp. "There isn't time. You've got to get away at once. Your only hope of escape is in stealth."

"I can't leave Rose here..."

"She is safe. Rendezvous with her at these coordinates." She pressed a scrap of paper into his hand.

"But what about you?" He brushed a few stray strands of hair from her face. "Won't you be under suspicion--"

"We'll say you overpowered us and escaped. Stop talking, go!"

Before she could protest, he kissed the top of her forehead. "Good-bye, Romana, my very best friend." He lifted his key to the TARDIS lock. "I'll always--"

Suddenly, the door opened from the other side.

"Doctor, what a surprise," said a very nasty voice. The pinched, rat-faced man stepped out. Three guards followed. "And...Councillor Romana. How odd. I thought you were taking him to the prison ship."

"I...I...I was, but..." Romana sputtered.

"I made a last request," said the Doctor, quickly. "I begged her to take me to Shada in my TARDIS. It's going to be my very last trip anywhere, ever, and I'm…I'm very attached to the old girl. I can be a bit of a sentimentalist..."

"I see no reason to deny your request," Nequamlupus said, silkily. "We can even leave your little antique with you on Shada. You and it can slowly decay, together forever. It's almost poetic. However, I think I should be the one to take you there. I have my doubts concerning Councillor Romana's loyalty. I'll take that book, thanks."

"Chancellor!" Romana protested, as he pulled the book from her fingers, "I have always been--"

"A friend of the Doctor's. Of that I am very well aware. Go to my office, Romana, and wait for me. I've one or two things I'd like to ask you. Come along now, Doctor."

The guards seized his arms and forced him inside the TARDIS. He managed to stop near the doorway. He looked out at Romana.

She gazed back at him, stricken, one hand on the wall for support. "Doctor, I--"

"I know."

The door closed. His TARDIS screamed and then--nothing. He was gone.


	10. Love 'em and Leave 'em

**Chapter 10: Love 'em and Leave 'em**

A ribbon of smoke floated into the air. It had been easy, almost too easy. The Kaleds were like children, so naive. And Rose--she had been the icing on the cake. No doubt she told everyone he had blown up the ship on purpose, to "save the universe." It would buy him enough time to get safely back to Earth. And that meant money, which meant freedom. And even a little something extra--he patted his breast pocket. He could afford to get his family off that cesspit. They'd go somewhere like Mars or Io...or even off-system. Alpha Centauri--he'd heard Alpha Centauri was nice.

Jack propped his feet up on the control panel, admiring the stars as they sped by. He took another drag from his cigar and sipped at his martini. Then he switched on the audio player. Soon the strains of the Glen Miller orchestra filled the air. Bliss. Absolute bliss.

Or it would have been bliss, had an engine light not started blinking insistently. Jack flipped the circuit off and on, in case it was a false alarm. But still it kept blinking. He swung his feet off the panel. "I suppose a _perfect_ day's too much to ask for." He got up and headed back to the engine room.

About halfway down the central corridor, he stopped. A pair of wooden doors were set into the wall. He'd never seen them before. He squeezed his eyes shut and opened them. The doors were still there. He placed his hand on a handle; it turned. "Okay...this is weird," he murmured. Then, overcome by curiosity, he opened the door and went inside.

"This is _really_ weird." Jack stood in the doorway and tried to understand what he was seeing. The books, the tea-trolley, the armchairs... He clawed at the top of his head for a moment, perhaps thinking this was all part of an elaborate Kaled virtual reality and he hadn't really left Skaro. Finally, he stepped inside and started examining the room more closely. He was about half-way around it when he realised someone was sitting in one of the arm chairs. "Um...hello?"

"Hello Jack." Rose turned around. Her expression was positively murderous.

Jack swallowed hard. "Rose!" He forced a laugh. "Uh...hi! Yeah! Good to see you again. So...how did you get here, exactly?"

"You're asking _me_ for explanations?" Rose stood up. "Oh, that's rich, that's really rich. How about an explanation from you, starting with what you said to me about wanting to be a hero and saving the universe."

"Ah...well...you see, the thing is..." He sputtered. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Love 'em and leave 'em involved _leaving_. The leaving part was critical. They weren't actually supposed to be able to find him again.

"Cat got your tongue?" Rose advanced on him, eyes flashing. He backed away. She jabbed him in the chest with her finger, punctuating her remarks. "I'll explain for you. You're a thieving, lying, cowardly pile of stinking pigeon droppings. The only thing you care about is your own worthless skin, and possibly also the big cheque you're hoping to get when you deliver your stolen property."

By now, Jack was backed up against a bookcase. He tried to retreat further, and knocked an entire shelf of books to the floor. "Sorry! I'm sorry! I'll pick them up." He crouched down and clutched at the books. Rose glowered over him, menacingly.

"That's everything, I think." Chronotis walked into the sitting room, closing the wooden doors behind him. As he moved towards the jukebox controls, he glanced towards Rose and remarked airily, "I think that's enough, my dear. The poor boy looks positively terrified." He pulled a lever.

"What's that?" said Jack suddenly. "That noise?"

"Oh, that's just the TARDIS," said Rose. "It makes this sort of screaming noise when we dematerialise."

"A TARDIS?" asked Jack, uncomprehending. "What's a--never mind, I just remembered. There was an engine light on in my ship, I've got to--"

"No need, no need," said Chronotis. He was looking out the window. "Your ship has been...taken care of."

Jack peered over Chronotis' shoulder. He gaped. "What...that's my ship! How did you--"

"It is on a solar intercept course. Impact in about thirty seconds, give or take."

"I don't know what you've done," said Jack, sharply. "But I want you to take me back to my ship, right NOW!" Chronotis turned. Jack was pointing a gun in his face.

"Put that away, dear boy." He waved Jack off. "You'll get yourself hurt, playing with those things." He sat down in his armchair and reached for a book.

"I mean it! Take me back or I'll...I'll...I'll kill _her_!" Jack swiveled around, pointing the gun at Rose. She laughed.

"You're gonna kill me? Go ahead then, do it. I'm not a coward, not like some people. I'm willing to die for what I believe in."

Jack scowled intensely. But they had called his bluff; he wasn't going to shoot an unarmed old man or a girl. He shoved the gun back in its holster. Wordlessly he stared out of the window. His sleek, black ship disappeared into the sun. A moment later, there was a small solar flare. "So," he said, grimly, turning away, "I guess this makes me your prisoner. Where are you taking me?"

"Why," said Chronotis, "anywhere you'd like to go--and I do mean anywhere. Or any_when_."

"Like I said, it's a TARDIS." Rose smiled smugly. "It travels in time and space."

"But first, we need to meet a friend." Chronotis returned his attention to his book. Rose settled into an armchair as well. She, too, picked up a book, pointedly ignoring Jack.

Jack paced a tight circle in the corner of the room. They had destroyed his ship, his precious, precious ship. He could overpower them and steal this one; but from what he had seen of the jukebox controls, he doubted very much whether he could fly it. All his hopes were dashed. Well...perhaps not _all_.

Unconsciously, he patted his breast pocket. Rose glanced up at him. He turned away quickly. He didn't believe for a moment that he wasn't a prisoner. Most likely they were going to take him back to Skaro--and then he really would lose everything. He had to escape. He fingered a button on his belt...and vanished.

"Jack!" cried Rose, jumping up. She ran to the spot where he had been standing. "He disappeared! He...he must have transmatted away."

"Oh dear," said Chronotis. "Oh dear, oh dear. That is very bad." He moved quickly to the controls. "Sometimes people can survive in the Time Vortex for a few moments, but..." He shook his head. "There's no sign of him."

"Can't you reverse it somehow? Get him back?"

"No, I'm afraid I can't. I'm terribly, terribly sorry, my dear. It is exceedingly hazardous to attempt matter transfer whilst moving through the Time Vortex. His matter stream must have been dispersed immediately. Alas, the poor boy is lost."

Rose couldn't believe it. She sank into the armchair again and buried her head in her hands. She was tremendously angry at Jack for betraying her; but, at the same time, devastated to lose him yet again. The other Jack had also been a con man and a thief; but he had a good heart. Maybe this one had, too, deep inside. Now it was too late to find out.

"Something's wrong," said Chronotis. "We're at the rendezvous point, but no sign of the Doctor."

"What?" Rose shook her head, still feeling quite dazed. "Maybe he's just late." She got up and looked out the window. "His TARDIS can be a little unreliable--say, is that Earth?" She pointed to the blue planet slowly swirling down below. "Isn't that dangerous? I mean, the Time Lords know the Doctor likes Earth--"

"The Doctor prefers Earth's twentieth century. We're in its twenty-first. A miss by a minute is as good as a millennium--which is why he wouldn't be late."

"Just give it time," said Rose. "I know he'll come. How long has it been?"

Chronotis glanced at his watch. "His TARDIS should have materialised right there..." He pointed to an empty spot in the corner of the room, "...about five minutes ago. It's been too long, he's not coming."

"What? Just like that? Five minutes late and you're giving up on him? Once I had to wait five and a half hours--"

"It's time for plan B." Chronotis drew his chair up to the jukebox. "Before we go, I should warn you--there is the possibility of danger. I could take you home first--"

"No chance. What's plan B?"

"Well," said Chronotis, as he pulled the levers in his jukebox, "we need to get to a place that's somewhere untraceable, unplottable, and utterly unfindable. It doesn't even exist in time and space."

"You think that's where the Doctor is? Some kind of prison?"

"Yes, indeed," said Chronotis. "You're a bright little thing." His TARDIS jerked into motion.

"Look, no offense," said Rose. "But how do you think we're going to break someone out of a heavily-guarded Time Lord prison? I mean, you're not exactly…" She trailed off.

"Not exactly in the prime of life? Yes, it's a fair question. What am I doing here in the first place? I'm just a doddering old man with a ceremonial title and a memory like a sieve. Surely a younger, more vigorous Time Lord could have been a better help to you and the Doctor. But you see, my dear, the prison is not so much heavily-guarded as heavily _hidden_. It's completely impossible to find, unless you have the book. Or unless…" Chronotis glanced up at her, his eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Unless what?" breathed Rose.

"Or unless you're very, _very_ clever and…you've been there before." He tapped his forehead. "If there's one thing this old brain remembers, it's this: how to get to Shada."


	11. Shada

**Chapter 11: SHADA**

_"Beware. This is the prison planet Shada. Unauthorised entry is punishable by matter dispersion."_

"What a horrible place," said Rose, shivering against the cold. She was standing on a flat, circular area of ground covered entirely by a large, winding pattern. A force field above held in an artificial atmosphere. It was dark, lit only by starlight. Every surface was covered in a layer of fine dust, as if no one had been there in many years. "Dark, depressing..." Words failed her then. She stared.

In the middle of the area was the Doctor's TARDIS. It was still invisible; but retained its familiar shape. Dust had settled onto the top and into the nooks and crevices of the police box, giving it a ghastly, ghostly outline. Rose shuddered.

She knew it was a vain hope, but she had to try. She ran to the box, her strides turning into long, bounding leaps in the planetoid's reduced gravity. She hammered on it. "Doctor? Are you in there? Doctor!" The dust clouded up into the air and rained down lazily upon her head. The TARDIS was empty. She knew it was empty, it _felt_ empty. It was abandoned, forlorn. She pressed her face against it and closed her eyes. "Doctor…"

"I found him," Chronotis called to her. He was standing at the perimeter of the circular area, in front of a large, stone obelisk. Mauve-coloured light glowed eerily from below it.

Rose was at his side in an instant. "Where? Where is he?" She peered over his shoulder at an index of names engraved in the stone. Her eyes scanned down the list until she saw the one he was pointing to.

**The Doctor--Enemy of the State--Chamber T, Cabinet 9**

"Ironic," murmured Chronotis, but he didn't elaborate.

The automated voice bleated its warning again. _"Unauthorised entry is punishable by matter dispersion._ _There is no authorised entry."_

Rose reached forward and touched the Doctor's name. "How long has he been here?"

"Hard to say. Time is indeterminate in this place. Now, first thing is to get the matter dispersers off." He dragged three of his fingers down the front of the obelisk in a complicated series of passes. The light from below the obelisk turned from mauve to green. "Good. Now for the lift." He pressed a metallic disc set in the middle of the stone; the obelisk groaned and rotated, revealing a small, circular room. He beckoned Rose inside. The floor of the room began to slowly drop.

"Lord President Chronotis--" said Rose, as they descended.

"Save the ceremonial titles for ceremony," he interrupted. "Call me _Professor_ Chronotis, if you must."

"All right...Professor. You said you'd been here before, and you really seem to know your way around. Why--"

"Sometimes, my dear, it's best not to ask too many questions." With a lurch, the floor stopped dropping. He placed his fingers against the wall; it vanished, revealing a doorway. He stepped outside.

She followed, and would have pressed the point further, had the sight of Chamber T not silenced her: row after row of glass-walled cabinets, rising to the ceiling, hundreds of them, glowing blue and covered with frost. Within each one, she could just discern the shadowy outline of a body.

Hesitantly, she approached one of the cabinets. She balled up the sleeve of her jacket and rubbed away the frost. She peered inside. Two unseeing eyes stared back at her; she jerked away, involuntarily. Then she leaned in again for a closer look. The eyes belonged to a woman. Her features were delicate; her face, though pale as marble, seemed kind. On the side of the cabinet were a set of green flickering lights, and one large button labelled "Reanimation." Rose reached for it.

"Better not, my dear," said Chronotis, appearing behind her. "We don't know who she is, or what she may have done. She might be a political prisoner like the Doctor; or a vicious psychopath who'd annihilate your entire timeline as a thank-you for releasing her." He sighed. "We were going to sort this place out, Romana and I. That's why I agreed to return to Gallifrey and assume this ridiculous title."

"What happened?" asked Rose.

"I am an old man; and she is a young upstart. Our ideas were considered dangerous. Public opinion swung hard, egged on by fear-mongering opportunists. We opened the door for Nequamlupus and his ilk; he will surely become Lord President in the next cycle. Alas for Gallifrey."

Rose shook her head. "Let's find the Doctor and get out of here. Do you know where he is?"

Chronotis pointed down the end of the row. Rose hurried ahead, in a loping, low-gravity gait, counting off the numbers. "Cabinet 12, cabinet 11, cabinet 10, cabinet…." She stopped. With trembling hands, she brushed away the frost. Blue eyes stared out of a white, frozen face. It was he. It was the Doctor. "What should we do?" asked Rose, agitatedly. "Is he even alive? He looks dead, he can't be--"

"He is alive; the life-sign lights are green. Press the reanimation button," said Chronotis. "Just as you were about to do for the other one."

Rose pressed it. Nothing happened. "Professor, something's wrong, he's--"

"Patience, my dear, patience. It is a delicate process."

Patience? Rose felt that he was asking the impossible. She watched the cabinet intently, periodically having to remind herself to breathe. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the frost disappeared. The pallor faded from his cheeks. The transformation took well over an hour; then, with a suddenness that made Rose jump, the Doctor blinked and took a breath. "He's awake!" she cried. "Open it, open the cabinet!"

Chronotis leaned forward and pulled the cabinet handle. It didn't budge. He pulled again. "This is very curious. It seems to be stuck. Give me a hand, my dear." The two of them pulled as hard as they could, but it wouldn't yield.

"Must be jammed or something." Rose tapped on the cabinet. The Doctor's hands were pressed against the inside of the glass. He, too, had been trying to push from the inside, albeit weakly. "Doctor," she shouted. "The latch is stuck, it's going to be a few more minutes, but we'll get you out, don't worry."

She glanced up at Chronotis, who was breathing hard from the effort. "Do you have any tools in your TARDIS? A spanner or a crowbar or something just to give us some leverage?"

"Possibly," he said. "I'll go have a look." He loped back to the lift and disappeared.

Rose knocked on the Doctor's cabinet again. "The Professor went to get some tools, we'll have you out in a--Doctor?" She saw that he was gasping. His lips were blue. To her great dismay, she realised that the cabinets were probably air-tight. He didn't need oxygen while he was frozen, but now...

Rose yanked on the latch again, but it was just as unyielding as before. "Doctor," she cried. "Do you know any other way to get this open? Doctor? Doctor!"

He didn't respond. His breathing became shallow and erratic. Then it stopped.

Rose backed away from the cabinet about twenty feet. Then, with a running start, she leapt into the air and threw herself at it, feet-first, hoping to break the glass. But she merely bounced off and fell to the floor. She crawled back to the cabinet and felt along the side of it, trying to see if she could somehow break the air-tight seal. "Don't despair...stay calm..." she said over and over again, repeating the old Doctor's words like a mantra. It was no use; she couldn't work her fingers inside the door.

She kicked at the latch, trying to use the strength in her legs to force it open. Then she grabbed the handle and shook it up-and-down, and side-to-side, trying vainly to work it free.

She pounded the glass with her fist as hard as she could and shrieked "Stupid, stupid, _stupid_ latch!_" _Then she collapsed against the door, shaking with frustration and exhaustion. Ever since the Doctor had been arrested and taken away, Rose had been utterly consumed with thoughts of finding and rescuing him. And now, to be able to see him, to be inches away from him, but unable to help him...

Rose thought about going to find Chronotis; but knew that by the time she returned, it would be too late. It was already too late. It had been at least half an hour since he stopped breathing. He was dead. She pressed the side of her face and her fingers against the glass. She couldn't bear to look at his lifeless features; but still, she wanted to be close to him. She shut her eyes. "I'm sorry, Doctor. I did what you asked me to. I kept my promise. We stopped Jack and destroyed the ship. Why couldn't I save you? I can't lose you, too...I can't..."

But she had lost him. She had failed. Could he "cheat death" and regenerate? Without any oxygen? Even if he could, wouldn't he just die all over again, trapped in there? She pounded the door again; and then, her despair complete, she wept.


	12. The Eagle

**Chapter Twelve: The Eagle**

A voice thundered behind her. "Woman!"

Rose recognised the voice. But...it wasn't...it _couldn't_ be possible. She lifted her eyes.

The enormous Thal sank to one knee before her. He was older now. His blonde mane was grizzled with grey. But he was still very clearly in the prime of life; and his muscles were, if anything, more massive than when she'd seen him last. "Woman," he said again. "I am in your service."

Rose's mouth worked for a moment or two before she could actually get any words out. She had absolutely no idea how he was here; but it didn't matter. She pointed frantically, then finally managed to shriek, "C-CABINET! OPEN IT! OPEN THE CABINET!"

The Thal lumbered forward. He bypassed the latch entirely, simply seizing the door by its frame and ripping it off. Rose rushed to the Doctor's side. She lifted him out of the cabinet and lowered him to the floor, the low gravity making his body quite light. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him, trying to wake him. She slapped his cheeks; his skin was pale and cold. "I won't give up on you, Doctor," she said, her eyes gleaming hard and bright. "I am not going to lose you."

Rose pinched the Doctor's nostrils shut with one hand; and put her other hand under his neck, lifting it slightly so that his mouth opened. She took a deep breath, sealed her lips around his, and slowly blew air into his lungs. Then she pulled away and allowed him to exhale. She leaned forward to give him another breath; but just then he gasped. His eyes blinked open.

"Hello Rose," he murmured.

"Doctor! Are you all right?"

He struggled to sit up. Rose put an arm around him, steadying him. "I'll confess I've felt better." He squeezed his eyes shut and opened them several times. "Vision's still a bit dodgy. For instance, that large fellow over there looks like the one we met on Skaro, but it must be an hallucination."

Nearly weeping, Rose laughed. "No, he's real. He pulled the door off, he saved your life."

"Really?" The Doctor craned his neck around, taking in the twisted remains of his cabinet. He turned to the Thal. "Thank you, I'm much obliged. I'm the Doctor, by the way. I never did get your name."

"Hera-kleos," the Thal replied.

"Hera-kleos." The Doctor chuckled weakly. "Hera-kleos. How appropriate. Tell me, Hera-kleos, how did you get to Shada?"

"Time Lords once watched Kaled and Thal. Now we watch you." The Thal folded his arms.

"You watch _us_? How do you--"

"We should get out of here," Rose interrupted. "Can you walk? I'm worried about Professor Chronotis, I sent him to go get some tools a long time ago, and he hasn't come back."

"Chronotis? Is he here, too? Probably just forgot what he was supposed to be looking for. As for walking--" He stood, without much difficulty. "Low gravity. Marvelous--"

He swayed slightly; Rose steadied him. Arm-in-arm they walked towards the lift, each step propelling them into the air. Hera-kleos followed close behind.

"I'm so glad you're safe," said Rose. "I thought I was going to lose you. I...I've already lost one Doctor…"

"To lose one Doctor may be regarded as a misfortune. To lose two looks like carelessness," he quipped. "Anyway, I was never in any real danger. My respiratory bypass system comes in handy, now and again."

"Respiratory bypass?"

"I can go without oxygen for extended periods of time."

Rose considered this for a moment. "Were you…awake?"

"Yes, but unable to move, unfortunately. The aftereffects of the cryogenic freezing--"

"So you heard me."

"Er…" he said, glancing away. "I heard you pounding on the door. I imagined you were…annoyed at me for falling asleep again."

Rose slid her hand down the Doctor's arm and laced her fingers through his. "Doctor, I--"

_"Beware. This is the prison planet Shada. Unauthorised entry is punishable by matter dispersion."_

Rose looked up in horror. Mounted above the lift entrance was something that looked suspiciously like it might be a matter disperser. It swiveled, pointing directly at them. Hera-kleos threw his arms around Rose and the Doctor and leapt behind a row of cabinets. The disperser fired off a series of energy beams, just missing them. The beams glanced harmlessly off the cabinets.

"Set for living flesh," observed the Doctor. "Designed to kill escapees, but not prisoners."

"Then we can use these as a shield." The Thal pointed to a cabinet. He started to rip the door off.

"No, you can't do that," said the Doctor. "If you open a cabinet prior to reanimation, you'll kill the person inside."

Hera-kleos didn't answer; he was looking intently into the cabinet. Then he ripped the whole thing entirely from its scaffolding. Holding it up to deflect the beams, the Thal was able to approach near enough that he could simply reach up from below and crush the matter disperser with his fingers.

They crowded into the small lift. It was an especially tight fit, as Hera-kleos was still holding the cabinet; its power supply must have been self-contained, as the life-sign indicators were still flashing green. As they ascended, Rose caught sight of the prisoner's face: to her surprise, she realised it was the woman she had almost reanimated earlier. The lift stopped. The Doctor pressed his fingers against the wall, and an entrance appeared. They stepped outside--immediately they found themselves surrounded by guards, staser blasters pointed at their heads.

"Doctor, we've got to stop meeting like this," chortled the little rat-faced man. He stood at the obelisk, which was again glowing mauve. Chronotis was nearby, held by another guard. "I'm surprised you survived the matter dispersers, but it's all for naught." His small, dark eyes twitched and shone. "Prisoners caught trying to escape from Shada may be executed on sight. Guards..."

"Why do you want to kill me? Why?" asked the Doctor, desperately. "What vendetta drives you? You send me here to rot away forever, without benefit of a trial, and now you're positively itching to see me die. At least tell me the reason!"

"You are an enemy of Gallifrey!" Chancellor Nequamlupus' voice rang out, high and strained. "You flout law, you flout order. You do things your own way, and always have done. For centuries the Time Lords have put up with your outrages, made exceptions for you, given you special dispensation." Flecks of white foam appeared at the corners of his mouth. "I say _enough_. Your ideas are dangerous, and they are spreading. We must make an example of you, and demonstrate that no one is above the law! That is why you must be executed, you and your accomplices."

"What? No!" cried the Doctor. "You can't do that, it's monstrous, they were only trying to help, and Rose is just a--"

"You will all be executed, starting with the greatest traitor of all." He jerked his head in the direction of Chronotis.

"You're going to kill him?" said the Doctor, aghast. "You're going to kill the Lord President of Gallifrey?"

"Even the Lord President is not above the law. Guard!"

The guard lifted his blaster; then hesitated. "Chancellor, I mean no disrespect, but--the Doctor's right, this _is_ the Lord President. Shouldn't we take him back to Gallifrey?"

Nequamlupus' eyes flashed. "You are an instrument of the State, you are here to do my bidding, not to think or make suggestions. DO IT!"

The guard swallowed hard. Beads of perspiration formed on his brow. He raised his blaster again. Chronotis smiled at him. "It's perfectly all right, dear boy. Do as the Chancellor says. When you go to sleep tonight, you can tell yourself that you were simply following orders."

The guard looked from Chronotis to Nequamlupus and back again. The blaster trembled in his grip; and then he put it down. "I'm not doing it. It's not right. We'll take him back to Gallifrey. We'll take them all back to Gallifrey." He glanced about at the other guards, who nodded.

"Insubordination!" screeched Nequamlupus. "You'll be court-martialed for this!" He snatched the guard's blaster out of his hands. He pointed it at Chronotis; but as he'd never held a gun before, he fumbled slightly with the controls.

"Now," hissed the Doctor. In a quick movement that likely took the last of his energy, the Doctor disarmed his guard; while Rose, understanding his signal, twisted out of her guard's grip. At that moment, Hera-kleos, seeing his opportunity, strode forwards. Swinging his mighty arm, he swatted Nequamlupus aside. Had they been on Earth or Skaro, Nequamlupus would have flown fifteen feet into the air and then crashed to the ground. But because they were on the planetoid Shada, with less than a tenth of Earth's gravitational pull, the Chancellor flew into the air and kept going. Up, up, up he went, until he hit the atmospheric force field. There was a small flash of light. Then he crashed through, careening off into deep space.


	13. Prometheus Unbound

**Chapter 13: Prometheus Unbound**

"Guards." They were all staring up at the sky, open-mouthed. Chronotis cleared his throat, and again said, "Guards." Finally, one by one, they became aware that he was addressing them. They gazed at him in confusion. "Guards, I command you to return to Gallifrey at once. Await my orders there." They looked at one another; then shuffled off without a word.

Hera-kleos was staring at the sky as well. He said, hoarsely, "I did not intend--"

"Of course you didn't," said the Doctor. "You were just trying to save an innocent life."

"For which I am most obliged," said Chronotis, nodding graciously at the Thal. "Well, time to go home, I think."

"What's going to happen to you, Professor?" asked Rose. "Won't the guards say anything? Won't people wonder what happened to Nequamlupus?"

Chronotis smiled mysteriously. "I think it's quite likely the whole affair will blow over, and everyone will simply forget all about it." The Doctor shot him a look, but said nothing.

"I hope you're right," said Rose, sounding unconvinced. "Thank you so much for helping us." She made a little jump, and floated up to kiss Chronotis' cheek. He patted her shoulder as she drifted down.

"My dear, it was the least I could do. Goodbye." Chronotis waved at them, then disappeared through a pair of wooden doors set into a nearby wall.

"And thank you, too," said Rose to Hera-kleos. "If you hadn't shown up when you did--"

"How _is_ it that you showed up when you did?" interjected the Doctor. "I am very curious."

The Thal stood tall and intoned, "The great Telvar built the machines that travel through time. We Thals protect our timeline. We watch Gallifrey. We follow the TARDISes. I followed the old man's TARDIS here."

Rose shook her head in wonder. "So it was just a lucky chance--a lucky chance that you got here when you did!"

"No," said Hera-kleos. "It was fate. I owed a life-debt to one of you, and service to the other. Now both are repaid, and I am free." He hoisted the cabinet, the life-sign lights still blinking green, upon his shoulder and headed towards his cylindrical black timeship.

"Wait--where are you going with that?" asked the Doctor. "Aren't you going to put it back downstairs?"

"No," said Here-kleos. "She is my woman now." He stepped inside the ship. A moment later, it vanished.

"Poor woman," said the Doctor, gazing after them. "Imagine waking up to that."

"Wouldn't be so bad," said Rose. The Doctor's eyebrows shot up. She shrugged. "I'm just saying...it's got to be better than being frozen forever. Anyway, maybe she's some horrible criminal. Perhaps we should be feeling sorry for him."

They went back to the TARDIS. Before going inside, the Doctor leaned against it for a moment and shut his eyes.

"You all right?" asked Rose.

"It's nothing, just…this was such a dismal failure," sighed the Doctor, fumbling for his key. "I put you and Chronotis in great danger, and for what purpose?" He turned the lock and went inside. "I didn't stop Jack, I didn't stop the Big Rip--"

"We stopped Jack," said Rose, following him.

The Doctor turned abruptly and gaped at her. "You…you what?"

"We stopped Jack. Me and Chronotis. You made me promise to do it, remember?"

"Rose! Whatever would I do without you?" The Doctor threw his arms about her and spun her around. Then he dashed off to the console. "Time to get out of here. Let's go and have a look at the bright, new future!"

It took Rose several seconds to catch her breath. She watched him bounce about the TARDIS, eyes bright, ringlets flying. She decided not to tell him what had happened to Jack; it seemed a shame to spoil the Doctor's delight. However, she couldn't resist asking the question that had been slowly burning in her mind. "Doctor," she asked, shyly, "who is Susan?"

"Er...why do you ask?" he replied, sounding startled.

"I accidently tripped a button on the console; it played some kind of emergency message to Susan." She shrugged. "Maybe you don't know her..."

"Susan is my granddaughter."

"Your _granddaughter_?"

"That really, really takes me back." The Doctor was smiling fondly, his eyes far away. "I'd forgotten I even made that recording. I think I gave her some rubbishy advice...don't panic, be optimistic--"

"I don't understand," said Rose, suddenly. "On the Restaurant at the End of the Multiverse, I actually met that Doctor, the one in the recording. He was nothing like you, nothing! When I asked him for help getting off the Restaurant, he told me to put myself out the nearest air lock!"

"Possibly he was joking," said the Doctor, uncomfortably. He pulled out his pocket watch and wound the chain about his fingers. "You've got to understand; when I was younger, I had all the usual...ah...prejudices of my people. But then I came to travel with Susan...and her friends, and then..." He stuffed the watch back into his waistcoat. "Suffice it to say, I'm not that man anymore. Rose? What's the matter?"

Rose was staring, wide-eyed and stricken. "I thought he was your future, not your past! That's why I left the Restaurant with you…I was afraid something would make you turn into that man, that horrible old man. I thought I could--I don't know--keep it from happening." She shook her head. "I'm an idiot."

"I am...touched, Rose, that you would be so motivated," said the Doctor, quietly. "But you regret your decision."

Rose looked away. "I…no, I don't regret it--"

"But you made it for the wrong reason. We can go back."

"Back?"

"To the Restaurant. We are following a linear timeline forward at the moment. If we've succeeded in our task, and restored this universe's future, we should be able to continue all the way there. It might be possible, this time, to successfully meet your Doctor. Would you like that?"

Rose had kept her promise to _this_ Doctor. And then, single-mindedly, she had sought to rescue him. Would she leave him, now that she had found him? But still she ached for her other Doctor; the memory of that beach and his unsaid words seared her soul as if it were yesterday.

She swallowed hard. "I want to..." She glanced from side to side distractedly. She clutched at her hair. She sighed--a ragged, exhausted sigh that almost sounded like a sob. She looked into his eyes. "I...I want..."

The ellipsis hung in the air.

"A cup of tea? Me too. I'll go and put the kettle on."

_Next story: "The Emerald City"_


End file.
